Archive for category Poems
Get Real
a poem by Wendell Barry
It may be when we no longer know what to do,
we have come to our real work, and that when
we no longer know which way to go,
we have begun our real journey.
The fear of not knowing what to do and the uncertainty of where I needed to go was paralyzing. What would happen if I made a mistake? What would ‘they’ think of me? My value as a husband, father, son and as a person, depended on the outcome of my decisions. The outcomes were uncertain. Therefore, my value as a human being was always in question. The constant pressure to manipulate life around me to meet my expectations prevented me from ever finding the solace I needed.
I have learned in recovery that I don’t control the outcomes of my actions. Rather, I do my best to ensure my actions are guided not by my self-centered ego but by the spiritual principles I’ve learned by working a spiritual program. My value as a person isn’t based on the events surrounding me but, instead, by the principles I use to guide my actions.

Man
Posted by Brian in Poems, The Life of Brian on October 1, 2011
A misty topped mountain looking over the land
Rivers at its feet and forests in its hands
Humbled was I when near it I did stand
Arrogant is man if those trees he would chop
Damned is man if those rivers he would stop
Man can’t create ‘cause God he is not
When done, leaving behind only scars
He seeks the next mountain no matter how far
Then looks to the sky lusting for the stars

Eyes
Posted by Brian in Poems, The Life of Brian on October 1, 2011
A short poem I wrote about being incarcerated. No one I knew had ever been to jail and I tried to give them a taste of my experience.

Pilgrimage
a poem by Scott Reese
Proving false to every wild promise made
Freed from searing scrutiny, I seek the grace of shade.
By owning my duplicity, I wed myself to me.
In admitting utter bankruptcy, I am finally free.
In secrecy, to protect my pride,
I hide myself among all those things I hide.
Seeking perfection, I leave behind me.
Perhaps I should seek who I am, not who I am trying to be.
